Tensor analysis and elementary differential geometry for physicists and engineers (Q2374268)

As the authors put it in the preface to the first edition, ``This book represents a joint effort by a research engineer and a mathematician. \dots this joint effort proposes a compromise between the mathematical rigors and less rigorous applied mathematics, incorporating different points of view. \dots This book also includes numerous examples with solutions and concrete calculations in order to guide readers through these complex topics [tensors and differential geometry] step by step.'' In the second edition, as mentioned in the preface (only signed by Hung Nguyen-Schäfer, the engineer), Chapters 4 and 6 have been added. The first chapter introduces curvilinear coordinates and the bra/ket formalism in a detailed and comprehensible manner. For the inner product of bra and ket the misleading term \textit{skew-symmetric} is used here for one of its properties, while the common mathematical term for it is \textit{Hermitian}. The second chapter makes acquaintance with the algebra and analysis of tensors and their use in differential geometry. In particular, the type and order of a tensor are discussed, the metric tensor is introduced, followed by the Christoffel symbols, covariant and contravariant derivatives, the Riemann curvature tensor, the Ricci tensor, the Einstein tensor. It is noticed that Section 2.3 (``Tensor algebra'') is more or less a repetition of Section 1.2 (``General basis in curvilinear coordinates'') of the first chapter, while Subsection 2.5.1 (``Physical component of tensors'') reappears, almost verbatim, in the beginning of appendix B. Furthermore, there seem to be inconsistencies in the formulas governing the changes of types of second-order tensors, since, for instance, the Kronecker symbol in the form \(\delta_i^i\) is equal to the space dimension, according to the Einstein convention. The third chapter discusses all basic notions and concepts of differential geometry, namely the arc length, the first and the second fundamental forms, the various curvatures, the Gauss-Codazzi and the Weingarten equations, the Gauss-Bonnet theorem, as well as Lie derivatives, Lie dragging, Killing vector fields, invariant time derivatives on moving surfaces, the Levi-Civita connection, the tangent and the cotangent bundles. There is a lack of clarity in some parts of the presentation, especially on the Lie dragging and the invariant time derivatives. Here, examples would have been helpful. The fourth chapter is devoted to differential forms and their calculus. The fifth chapter introduces the basic differential operators nabla, gradient, divergence, curl, and the Laplacian, followed by the Gauss, Stokes, and Green theorems. The rest of it is devoted to applications in computational fluid dynamics, Navier-Stokes equations, the rothalpy equation, basic equations of continuum mechanics such as Cauchy's laws of motion and constitutive equations, the Maxwell equations, the Einstein field equations and their Schwarzschild solution. These applications require the reader's basic knowledge of the physical background. The last (sixth) chapter discusses the basic phenomena and principles of quantum mechanics. Particular attention is paid to the phenomenon of quantum entanglement of a composite system, both from the conceptual and from the mathematical point of view. The bra and ket calculus in the framework of probabilities is developed, the wave-particle duality and the double-slit experiments are described. Finally, the Schrödinger (time-dependent and independent), Klein-Gordon, and Dirac equations are discussed. There follow eight appendices with basic mathematical evidence on various topics in the book, a list of mathematical symbols, a list of references for further reading (beside the special ones at the end of each chapter), and an index. From the viewpoint of language, there still are passages in this second edition that could be improved. Here and there are small mistakes in mathematical expressions. Yet, the overall impression of the book is positive. Being addressed to physicists and engineers, it succeeds to impart a fairly sound knowledge of differential geometry and its instruments -- the tensors -- and show how this theory can be fruitfully applied.